Hearing protection devices are often worn to mitigate the impact of excessive noise. Depending on the noise level, hearing protection is often layered to provide necessary additive protection. Earplugs are frequently used as either a baseline protective layer, or in conjunction with over-the-ear earmuffs for additional layers of protection. More advanced technological innovations include the use of active noise reduction (ANR) systems that use microphones to sample the offending noise and transmit sound-cancelling noise to reduce the noise-levels reaching the inner ear, thus providing even higher levels of hearing protection when used with earplugs and over-the-ear muffs. These protective measures are very effective at significantly reducing ambient noise reaching the user's ears, but, for the same reason, may hamper communication between users unless supplementary communication techniques are used.
Radio-frequency (RF) communication is highly effective in transmitting messages long distances, through structures, and to large groups of people who are omni-directionally dispersed. However, RF communications require users to switch to private channels for communications that they do not want transmitted to everyone who may be monitoring the same radio channel. Participants in the “private conversation” need to physically switch their radios to this private channel to communicate privately, and then switch back to the common frequency for general communication with everyone else. This is cumbersome when short messages are conveyed face-to-face during high-tempo activities such as preparing to launch aircraft, in-flight patient care, or during manufacturing operations that take place in high-noise environments.
Often, personnel working in high-noise environments, such as in the flight industry, use hearing protection without radios. Radios are typically reserved for personnel who need to communicate directly with the aircraft or other control agencies. Aboard aircraft carriers, hand-signals are used to communicate basic messages using a known, specific hand-signal language. Problems occur when the message is outside the known vocabulary or if trying to communicate with someone not trained in the hand-gesture language. When more elaborate communication is required between personnel without radio-equipped headsets, or to convey a message not part of the hand-gesture vocabulary, these personnel often approach each other and yell their messages to overcome the high-noise environment and to penetrate the hearing protection the recipient is wearing.
In these instances, it is typically difficult to understand the message and the information is not effectively transmitted. This might result in the recipient lifting their hearing protection off their ears to allow the verbal message to be more easily understood. However, by removing their hearing protection, they expose their ears to the high noise.
Additionally, there are hazardous conditions where radio transmissions are prohibited, such as when working with open fuel-tanks or near explosives, when electromagnetic energy or radio-frequency (RF) emissions could cause an explosion. Similarly, when sensitive electronic equipment is present, such as aircraft avionics, RF wireless headsets are not permitted due to the potential of electromagnetic interference.
Therefore, what is needed, is a hearing protection and communications module that overcomes the deficiencies described above.